Private Property Rights - The Foundation Of Prosperity And Freedom
Safeguarding Liberties - The Autonomy To Use And Dispose Of Your Resources
The market is an essentially decentralised mechanism for carrying out almost all transactions in a modern society. - Friedrich Hayek
Drones Need Private Airspace Permission
A federal criminal complaint has been lodged against Matthew Hebert, 44, of Pennsylvania, for allegedly flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during the National Football League’s AFC Championship game in Baltimore on January 28, 2024.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had imposed a temporary flight restriction for M&T Bank Stadium on the day of the AFC Championship game, prohibiting the flight of any unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) within a three-nautical mile radius of the stadium.
What is critical is that the stadium that owns the airspace directly above the land did not want unauthorised drones in their airspace. This allowed the FAAs to put in place flight restrictions in the stadiums airspace without the need to designate it as an airport. The airspace the stadium owns is up to ~500 feet. This shows the value of controlling and permitting access to private airspace.
In this case, it is a large stadium and a high-profile event, but individual homeowners who want to permit or restrict drones in their airspace, and drone operators who want to be legally compliant in that private airspace need a solution to scale their delivery operations.
The charges were brought by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and the FBI. The United States Attorney emphasized the security risks associated with illegally operating drones. The FBI highlighted the importance of responsible drone usage and the potential dangers of violating laws, which include trespass laws.
Matthew Hebert admitted to operating the drone without proper registration or certification. If criminally convicted he faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison for operating an unregistered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and for serving as an airman without certification. While Mr Hebert’s case is in Maryland, depending on the state and local laws, trespass can have penalties of up to 3 years in prison and $100,000 in fines. Being on the right side of private property laws is essential for those who need airspace to transit through.
Municipalities Air Rights Markets
Large companies, like Amazon and Google, for years have tried to get the federal government to permit them to be in people’s private airspace. The Federal government do not own low-altitude private airspace so they cannot give this air space to them, and have said no. You cannot give what you do not own.
Recently in Illinois, a bill has been put forward that attempts to use low-altitude airspace. The bill proposes that the municipalities control airspace below 150 feet and can create their own rules around this. The municipality owns the low-altitude airspace up to ~500 feet, but only over their property assets. The other private landowners own the airspace above their assets so fluidly accessing low-altitude airspace requires coordination and aggregation, which a marketplace brings.
The Common Law
U.K. Ministers are unveiling proposals to overhaul regulations and infrastructure, aiming to integrate drones and flying taxis into everyday life.
Vertical Aerospace, a British firm, is among those leading the charge, with their VX4 eVTOL capable of carrying four passengers. Under the Future of Flight Action Plan, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will establish certification processes, while plans for 'vertiports' – designated takeoff and landing hubs are in development.
Drones are set to play a vital role in crime prevention, emergency response, and delivery services. The U.K. say they are committed to spearheading a transportation revolution.
The U.K. is a common law jurisdiction and exported much of its common law structures to other parts of the world, including the United States. The significance of this is that in common law jurisdiction it is the property owner who owns the low-altitude airspace above their property.
This means the property owners, the drone operators, flying car companies and the customers need a way for private airspace to be accessed legally.
The permission of the air rights owners is required to help scale drones and flying cars in the U.K.
Can A Battery Power Flight
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are researching batteries tailored for electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles, aka flying cars. Unlike helicopters, eVTOLs utilize multiple rotors spinning at lower speeds, which is supposed to enhance safety and reduce noise.
Recognizing that eVTOL batteries cannot simply be adapted from electric car batteries, ORNL researchers are using new energy-dense materials and battery control systems. They are delving into how these materials withstand extreme conditions, balancing the need for high power bursts with energy reserves for longer flights.
The ORNL team's testing regimen includes simulated climb stages of eVTOL aircraft, and provides insights into battery performance under real-world conditions. By scrutinizing how batteries fare during demanding flight phases, such as takeoff, hover, and descent, researchers can fine-tune battery chemistry to meet the requirements of eVTOLs.
These results demonstrate the need for diversifying how battery performance is measured, Dixit said. "Your battery is not just capacity at the end of 1,000 cycles. It's what's happening within a cycle that tells you whether your system is going to work or crash.
And the stakes are much higher here because you're asking how safe it is to go up in the air. This is a question we don't know the answer to……yet."
Permission To Private Property
To use low-altitude airspace what is clear is that permission is needed. These users have sought this from centralized government-controlled entities and have not received the permission they require as they government cannot give it. For a large company seeking to scale drones, it seems easier to have one centralized ruler who commands all private property to deal with.
However, we have a legal system in common law jurisdictions like the U.S.A. and U.K. and an economic system - the market doesn’t work like that. For the trading of private property and real estate, we have a market system, although in many cases the system can be full of friction leaving large untapped areas of value which can be opened up by technological advances.
It is unfortunately true that there are examples of overreach by governments where they have taken what they do not own. They have done this for their own ends or to protect the interests of industries that may wield outsized power over government and officials. This makes it even more important that people’s property rights are protected and we jealously guard them.
Private property including air rights are the foundation of prosperity and freedom. Decentralization of property ownership can be used to increase value and wealth, now is not the time to ceed control of individual rights.
